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Nexus One DIY Docks

There's a lot of discussion about docks for the Nexus One. Since budget is a big issue for a lot of us, why don't we resort to DIY solutions?
Please share your ideas in making a Nexus One DIY dock.
EDIT:
Neat DIY solutions we have here so far
Business Card Holder http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=5700465&postcount=41
Paper Cup http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=5779280&postcount=42
iPhone 2G Dock http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=5801510&postcount=47
Cassette Case Dock http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mj3s4ONvLY
Paper Clip Dock http://www.deanying.com/PermaLink,guid,a99a1c06-b55b-4001-afeb-46a707055ecc.aspx
Dollar Bill Dock (works for other currencies too ) http://www.androidhackz.net/2010/02/docking-station-for-a-buck/
Tissue Roll Dock http://bobbyjason.co.uk/blog/2010/02/nexus-one-andrex-dock/
Dough Dock http://bobbyjason.co.uk/blog/2010/02/green-android-desk-stand/
Lego Dock from 3gdo http://3dgo.net/2010/01/15/nexus-one-lego-dock/

Before breaking out the duct tape you might want to have a look at the 3rd party cradles on ebay.
Another option is the one dollar docking station

Volker1 said:
Before breaking out the duct tape you might want to have a look at the 3rd party cradles on ebay.
Another option is the one dollar docking station
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about! Cool
Good thing the Clock app works on landscape
I think, the cradle mentioned here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=627552 would also work nicely. Good thing we have those in the Philippines. I just hope it's safe for the Nexus One.
Thanks for the ebay tip. Found a lot of options

oops. double post

I've been waiting for alternate docks too.
I don't need the bluetooth or RCA connectors, just a stand with pins to charge the n1. (via the pins, not micro usb)
can someone with a dock post some pictures of the dock pins, if they can volt-test the pins that would be great.

Not fancy enough to use pins or anything, but it does what I need. Legos FTW!
3dgo.net/2010/01/15/nexus-one-lego-dock/
Unfortunately I can't post links yet...

The ebay knockoffs use microUSB, just like the lego dock As far as I know there are no pin-utilizing ones apart from the official one. Too bad I already have bluetooth speakers

britoso said:
I've been waiting for alternate docks too.
I don't need the bluetooth or RCA connectors, just a stand with pins to charge the n1. (via the pins, not micro usb)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely agree. Sadly, I bet we won't ever see one. I'm guessing it's much cheaper just to mold a piece of plastic around a micro-usb plug than to actually match the pin setup. I'm guessing that's why we saw them appear so quickly after launch.
Hope I'm proven wrong, though. That Nexus dock is hella expensive, and apparently kind of buggy.

Here are two "innovative" docks I came across in the Android Forum
http://bobbyjason.co.uk/blog/2010/02/nexus-one-andrex-dock/
http://bobbyjason.co.uk/blog/2010/02/green-android-desk-stand/

^LOL...too much doh for my tastes But that TP one has potential backup use

Heres the one I made with a business card
http://kmobs.iq0.org/Nexusdock3.jpg

persiansown said:
Heres the one I made with a business card
http://kmobs.iq0.org/Nexusdock3.jpg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool. Could you share with us how you did it?

persiansown said:
Heres the one I made with a business card
http://kmobs.iq0.org/Nexusdock3.jpg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
brilliant, please post how you cut/fold the card to make it strong enough.

britoso said:
...if they can volt-test the pins that would be great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that would be nice.
I have lots of plastic in different colors left.
Should not be too hard to build something.

Here are the pictures of the pins on the Desktop Dock from Google, I should be be able to get a voltage test tonight and let you know.
Hope this helps.
yfrog.com/ca20100205185942j
yfrog.com/1520100205185950j
NOTE: Since I'm a new member I cant embed the images, sorry. They are from imageshack.us

My favorite is the paperclip dock. Search youtube for iphone paperclip stand.

scgolfer7 said:
Here are the pictures of the pins on the Desktop Dock from Google, I should be be able to get a voltage test tonight and let you know.
Hope this helps.
yfrog.com/ca20100205185942j
yfrog.com/1520100205185950j
NOTE: Since I'm a new member I cant embed the images, sorry. They are from imageshack.us
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I'm thinking we can build one of these out of plastic/putty/clay/plaster of paris etc.
Cut up a usb cable and connect the +5v and GND to to simple pins/nails (blunted/filed) at the bottom. ( with a little soldering).

3bs said:
My favorite is the paperclip dock. Search youtube for iphone paperclip stand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most decent solution so far! Thanks a lot!
Here it is http://www.deanying.com/PermaLink,guid,a99a1c06-b55b-4001-afeb-46a707055ecc.aspx

love this thread .
i wod go for the Tissue Roll Dock http://bobbyjason.co.uk/blog/2010 02...e-andrex-dock/

about the 3 pins
if you see from the bottom you have 3 pins, 2 on the left, 1 on the right from the micro usb.
if you haven't attached the microusb you have the following:
pin 1 <-> pin 2: -2.5 volts
pin 2 <-> pin 3: +2.6 volts
pin 1 <-> pin 3: 0 volts
when you have attached the micro usb you get
pin 1 <-> pin 2: 2 volts
pin 2 <-> pin 3: 2.6 volts
pin 1 <-> pin 3: 4.6 volts (with the stock loader I get 5 volts)
so I assume the outer pins are for charching (5 volts = usb power).
Can someone with the stock docking verify this?
Does anyone know what the purpose for the other pin? It should detect the dock mode? There is no 4th pin for the car dock...

How to enable HDMI out, if we could just find a freak'n connector

I found an app in /system/bin/ that lets you control your displays :-D
Now we just need to figure out the pin-out of the connector If somebody can find me a plug that fit the docking port correctly I could probably figure out the pinout for us and post instructions.
Code:
# nvdmmultidisplay
*******************************************************
dmmultidisplay usage:
dmmultidisplay [disp_option] [case_option] <activity_option>
<disp_option> can be one of the following (default is '--lcd'):
--off: Turn off all displays
--lcd: Test LCD Display
--hdmi: Test HDMI with no display on LCD
--crt: Test CRT Display with no display on LCD
--tvout: Test TV-Out Display with no display on LCD
--lcd_hdmi OR --lcd_crt OR --lcd_tvout: Test for dual display at the same time
<case_option> can be one of the following (default is '--case1'):
--case1: Demonstrate case #1
--case2: Demonstrate case #2
<activity_option> can be one of the following:
--ui: Show only UI without playing video
--play: Play only video without displaying UI
--uiplay: Show UI together with playing video
--file <filename>: Video file to be played (including path)
--query_displays: Query some info about all displays
--query_active: Query more info about active displays
Command-line examples:
Turn on LCD and HDMI displays and play default video; use case 1:
dmmultidisplay --lcd_hdmi --play
Turn on LCD and HDMI displays and play default video and show UI; use case 2:
dmmultidisplay --lcd_hdmi --case2 --uiplay

KinkyMunkey said:
I found an app in /system/bin/ that lets you control your displays :-D
Now we just need to figure out the pin-out of the connector If somebody can find me a plug that fit the docking port correctly I could probably figure out the pinout for us and post instructions.
Code:
# nvdmmultidisplay
*******************************************************
dmmultidisplay usage:
dmmultidisplay [disp_option] [case_option] <activity_option>
<disp_option> can be one of the following (default is '--lcd'):
--off: Turn off all displays
--lcd: Test LCD Display
--hdmi: Test HDMI with no display on LCD
--crt: Test CRT Display with no display on LCD
--tvout: Test TV-Out Display with no display on LCD
--lcd_hdmi OR --lcd_crt OR --lcd_tvout: Test for dual display at the same time
<case_option> can be one of the following (default is '--case1'):
--case1: Demonstrate case #1
--case2: Demonstrate case #2
<activity_option> can be one of the following:
--ui: Show only UI without playing video
--play: Play only video without displaying UI
--uiplay: Show UI together with playing video
--file <filename>: Video file to be played (including path)
--query_displays: Query some info about all displays
--query_active: Query more info about active displays
Command-line examples:
Turn on LCD and HDMI displays and play default video; use case 1:
dmmultidisplay --lcd_hdmi --play
Turn on LCD and HDMI displays and play default video and show UI; use case 2:
dmmultidisplay --lcd_hdmi --case2 --uiplay
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does anyone have a SandDisk Sansa device with the connector? I know you can buy breakouts of that connector (like the ipad) from Sparkfun. Maybe that one fits. It is similar to the ipad 30 pin connector

I do. The pins fit perfectly, but it's connector goes to USB. Not sure where to go from here

sledgie said:
I do. The pins fit perfectly, but it's connector goes to USB. Not sure where to go from here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow.. Ok then. I am going to order this. It is a sansa breakout plug that allows you to solder to the board. Once we get it working, we can make a cable with the plug they sell also.
http://www.kineteka.com/sansabreakout.aspx
... and see if we can figure out the pin outs!
Thanks for the update.

YOU ROCK! great find... I just ordered one too....
Does anybody know if it's safe to hook the HDMI directly into the connector? I am worried that the dock might have extra power filtering circuitry or protection we could be bypassing by hooking directly into it. (i have only heard plans for a dock, personally i would rather have an HDMI adapter, it would be AMAZING for presentations, opening up a google docs slideshows work great on this thing already)

Did you try plugging the Sansa USB cable in?

no, i just checked to see if it connected into the port. for gits and shiggles!
Yes, i did plug the USB into my computer. Nothing recognized while G Tab was running 2.04. When i reboot into CWM, i went into mounts and storage, mounted /sdcard. Computer didn't recognize. pulled USB from computer - viewsonic reset. Mounted storage in USB mode - same happened. Nothing showing up on the computer.

I know its not cost effective but wondering if something like this would do anything with the sansa usb connector attached?
http://sewelldirect.com/Sewell-HD-Deck-USB-to-HDMI.asp

KinkyMunkey said:
YOU ROCK! great find... I just ordered one too....
Does anybody know if it's safe to hook the HDMI directly into the connector? I am worried that the dock might have extra power filtering circuitry or protection we could be bypassing by hooking directly into it. (i have only heard plans for a dock, personally i would rather have an HDMI adapter, it would be AMAZING for presentations, opening up a google docs slideshows work great on this thing already)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is on its way. Tried to find a similar breakout for HDMI, but not found yet. I guess I will just cut the end off a cheap HDMI cable and wire it to the breakout. When we get it right, I will wire it to the regular plug. I bought one of those too.
Now, who is going to figure out the pinouts? I dont have a scope to read signals like these.. just a good multi meter

insight3fl said:
Mine is on its way. Tried to find a similar breakout for HDMI, but not found yet. I guess I will just cut the end off a cheap usb and wire it to the breakout. When we get it right, I will wire it to the regular plug. I bought one of those too.
Now, who is going to figure out the pinouts? I dont have an scope to read signals like these.. just a good muti meter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello guys, I am Mike from Kineteka. We noticed traffic coming from XDA and decided to investigate. We are very interested in your discovery and would like to work with you on developing an HDMI adapter.
Regards,
Mike
Kineteka Systems

Kineteka said:
Hello guys, I am Mike from Kineteka. We noticed traffic coming from XDA and decided to investigate. We are very interested in your discovery and would like to work with you on developing an HDMI adapter.
Regards,
Mike
Kineteka Systems
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Mike! Welcome. We need help! no one has an hdmi cable for the viewsonic yet. As you see, someone believes the sansa cable fits our viewsonic dock... I and others have ordered on that chance. But we do not have the pinout on the dock connector...and as I mentioned, we need a pigtail HDMI cable to connect to the sansa breakout. Can you send me a private message and we can work on this.
thanks
Dennis

Ok... got my sansa connector breakout board/connector and a spare connetor. but, I have not a clue what to do next! The breakout board connector comes with the other parts to put around it such as the locking pins and plastic cover, but there is no way that fits over the breakout pc board, it is slotted for a cable like the parts on the regular cable connnetor I got. So I assume it does not work so I am clueless why it is included. That being said, there is very little contact with the connetor and the port on the tablet (absent the locking pins to hold it in). Now the big question is while I have it "sitting in there" (connected) how do we begin to test any signals coming out of the port??

Kinkymonkey,
Did you get your plug yet and have you had any luck with the pin out?
Mike from Kineteka, can you lend any insight on the pinout for us?
Thanks

So,, What can i supply about your development??
I have received your PM. and what information need i supply?

xjarl said:
I have received your PM. and what information need i supply?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We need the schematic for the connector
Thx

I just got it, but it won't fit the plug, it looks like the metal tabs under the connector are just a little bit closer together then slots on the plug - it fits in sideways but it won't go in straight because of those metal tabs :-( Did it actually fit in yours? (i have one of the first 1000....)
Ya- that black cover in the bag is wierd.. did you notice the big holes in the side too- i think those little tiny plastic clips are meant to cover them- man would that be a pain to put together. it must have come from whatever kit the sansa connector came from, They just bought a bunch of cheap connectors and soldered on the breakout board.
On a plus note, the box also contained a cool rubber ducky robot, a christmas card, and a multipage color sales guide for the archos tablet line (LOL! ironic) so it wasn't a total loss... just a really expensive rubber ducky...

oh, btw wrap a piece of electical tape around the pins coming out the back of the connector (instead of the black plastic cover), that way you don't have to worry about touching them when you are plugging in it (sending static electricity from your fingers into the HDMI connector would probably be a bad thing)
Wrap it from the thick part of the connector back down the pc board coming out the back.
I did that so i could get a better grip - but it still won't fit

KinkyMunkey said:
I just got it, but it won't fit the plug, it looks like the metal tabs under the connector are just a little bit closer together then slots on the plug - it fits in sideways but it won't go in straight because of those metal tabs :-( Did it actually fit in yours? (i have one of the first 1000....)
Ya- that black cover in the bag is wierd.. did you notice the big holes in the side too- i think those little tiny plastic clips are meant to cover them- man would that be a pain to put together. it must have come from whatever kit the sansa connector came from, They just bought a bunch of cheap connectors and soldered on the breakout board.
On a plus note, the box also contained a cool rubber ducky robot, a christmas card, and a multipage color sales guide for the archos tablet line (LOL! ironic) so it wasn't a total loss... just a really expensive rubber ducky...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not get any of those trinkets......but my plug engages but just not very deep. I wa assuming the metal hook piece ( when it would be assembled with the cover and the black plastic " buttons" for squeezing the pins) would hold it in. But the other poster said his plug fit.....so i dont know.
I wish Mike from the vendor would chime in again.

a bit confused
XDA is no longer worth my time.

I am briefly reserecting this old thread as I got my dock today. I was all set to pull it apart, cut the end off an HDMI cable and try and trace the pinout with my Sensa Breakout plugs I bought from Kinetica. Well, after seeing the connector on the dock, and knowing the Kinetica plug did not fit and I was going to have to modify and force it on someway, it is not even close to looking like the plug on the dock. I think the poster who plugged his Sansa cable in must have forced it or something or it is completely different from the cable that Kinetica sold us as a Sensa plug. It looks so much bigger in width and it the throat is much narrower ( I know the dock plug is made for the tablet to just "sit" on it and not stay pugged in, but even though it does not have the little clips on the sides that hold this type of plug engaged, the SAnsa cable is just not going to work. So, I will not be pulling the dock apart at this time until someone can spec the dock connector and find us one that is an exact fit.
I wasted $20 bucks on those two plugs unfortunately along with a few others here.

internal gps antenna (micro-coax?) connector

Hi
I recently dropped my desire onto concrete and, while it landed on the side and thankfully wasn't too damaged the side housing was slightly split and was sharp, so I ebay'd a replacement casing (only £2.99) and went about fitting it.
All went well except when I popped the micro-coax cable for the gps antenna (by sticking my fingernail under the jack, as I have done many times on other similar connectors) it simply flew off, leaving the cable flapping. For what it's worth, I can't believe (given the amount of force I used) that it can have been connected fully in the first place, but of course I can't prove that now...
I'm pretty sure I can't solder that back together, firstly I don't think I have the skill or the kit (I can solder but this looks pretty intricate) and secondly I'm unsure there's enough spare cable left to solder it.
So now I'm looking for another cable and I simply can't find anyone selling them; further I can't even find any detail on the type of connector so I can search for a generic cable that might fit.
Any info would be much appreciated!
Geoff

Hi
Last year i made the same mistake and I found the following:
http://www.htcrepairparts.com/antenna-cable-replacement-for-htc-desire-bravo-a8181-a8182-a8183-g7-p-3759.html?language=en
My device had other errors,so I didn't try it after all,bought a used Desire.
Anyway,I think this connector is called U.FL or IPX,commonly used in miniPCI(e) laptop wifi cards,routers,etc.It can't be soldered as it's not soldered originally.
Info.
I hope this info could help.

kj00 said:
Hi
Last year i made the same mistake and I found the following:
http://www.htcrepairparts.com/antenna-cable-replacement-for-htc-desire-bravo-a8181-a8182-a8183-g7-p-3759.html?language=en
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. Unfortunately the item they ship is completely wrong - the cable's too long and the coax connectors are too large.
Think I'm going to have to resort to looking for a faulty phone on ebay.
Thanks anyway.
Geoff
Edit: for what it's worth it looks like the cable is W.FL, not U.FL - basically the same but smaller.

Marsbar said:
for what it's worth it looks like the cable is W.FL, not U.FL - basically the same but smaller.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ended up with a Hirose 10cm W.FL cable from RS - they don't stock the Hirose 70mm version which would have been better, the only people who seem prepared to sell that is mouser and they wanted about 20UKP including delivery.
The RS cable works but I had to bend it around stuff to use up the extra cable and the signal quality doesn't seem 100% at first impression (I'll do some side-by-side testing later with my wife's Desire - I did the repair this morning first thing before I left for work!) - I'm hoping it will be Good Enough though (I'm getting 6 or 7 sats, so it should be usable).
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/connector-rf/6196387/
There's a guy on ebay selling a 38mm W.FL cable and when I asked he said he could supply a 65mm version (should be about perfect) for $4.50 delivered, so for anyone still looking for one that's probably the best option (I'd already ordered the RS one by then though)
Contact him through
http://myworld.ebay.com/connekt/
He replied to me within the day, for what it's worth.
Disclaimer: no connection to connekt, mouser or indeed RS
Geoff

Marsbar said:
The RS cable works but I had to bend it around stuff to use up the extra cable and the signal quality doesn't seem 100% at first impression (I'll do some side-by-side testing later with my wife's Desire - I did the repair this morning first thing before I left for work!) - I'm hoping it will be Good Enough though (I'm getting 6 or 7 sats, so it should be usable).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For anyone considering it, the 10cm cable was perfectly adequate - I drove into work with the Desire navigating and it all went perfectly. Sat next to another Desire GPS Status shows very similar output, certainly nothing noticeably worse.

cable to connect dock and tablet

I searched for similar threads and came up empty, so forgive me if the idea is not new.
Wouldn't it simplify matters if there were a cable to connect the tablet and dock, just like it was mounted? Then, the protective case or screen protector wouldn't matter or cause issues with docking. We could enjoy both worlds, and still use great cases like the upcoming Gumdrop.
I figure the tablet side could come from a usb data cable, but where could we source the male connector found in the dock?
Thoughts?

Just a thought,
A lot folks who bought the cheapster charging cables from Amazon had complaints about the male end coming apart easily.
I bought the 2 pack of the KHOMO brand cables and mine are solid.
I was wondering if maybe some of the really crappy ones might be easier to pull apart?
It would be cool to find a molex crimp type connector that would work.
Other than this I haven't a clue as to where to find the frigging Asus plug.

Have a look at this thread on tf101 connectors: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1056615&page=4
I read elsewhere that tf101, tf201, tf300 and tf700 40 pin connectors are compatible. Can someone else confirm?

Kraka said:
Have a look at this thread on tf101 connectors: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1056615&page=4
I read elsewhere that tf101, tf201, tf300 and tf700 40 pin connectors are compatible. Can someone else confirm?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good find link wise (guess I could've searched a little harder)
I imagine the 40 pin connector is the same for all models, at least for 201 300 and 700 not sure about the tf101.
I know if you get the Asus USB adapter thing or the SDcard reader it works with all tablets.

Storage case

Is there a case that when you put it on you phone it acts as a external storage area or a removable sd card that expands your storage on you phone?

No
Sent from my HTC One XL

Only think i can think of is to use an OTG cable with a USB flash drive. Not sure if it will work that way you want though.

You mean like so it works with pogo pins? That'd be AWESOME!!!! I'm thinking there are so much possibilities with gjese pogo pins.... We can have so many more additions to our phone that's why I love android phones... So creative, other than iPhone. All they have going for them are hipsters and a clean interface.... And mustaches... Lol
Sent from my HTC One XL using xda app-developers app

Maybe
So I saw this and it got me thinking.
No, it has not been made yet. But, it would be thooper easy (except it's actually not) to DIY!
Instructions (alpha stage?):
1: Get thin case, w/ no covers for headphones/charing port
2: Put an extra layer on case
3: Get Thumb drive+USB OTG cable
a: Take casing off USB
b: Put m/board + other stuff in the extra layer of the case
-Optional: if you dont like fancy lights, remove it from the usb
c: attach Thumb drive USB to USB OTG
4: Stick the male part of the OTG in the charging hole of the original case (preferably solder it so it stays)
5: ?????
6: Profit! (literally)
I don't know, just thinking out loud.

CaptainBromo said:
So I saw this and it got me thinking.
No, it has not been made yet. But, it would be thooper easy (except it's actually not) to DIY!
Instructions (alpha stage?):
1: Get thin case, w/ no covers for headphones/charing port
2: Put an extra layer on case
3: Get Thumb drive+USB OTG cable
a: Take casing off USB
b: Put m/board + other stuff in the extra layer of the case
-Optional: if you dont like fancy lights, remove it from the usb
c: attach Thumb drive USB to USB OTG
4: Stick the male part of the OTG in the charging hole of the original case (preferably solder it so it stays)
5: ?????
6: Profit! (literally)
I don't know, just thinking out loud.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay there are more solutions.... If you're working with pogo pins why not just get a 32 gb sdcard... That would be more convenient and then making the case a lit thinner... Reason why HTC won't make these cases is because they want you to buy the more expensive phones. And 3rd party suppliers obviously are having issues :/ and besides this phone is old news... The HTC One comes out soon and thats gonna be the best lol ima get it too
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app

Is it useful for you?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2223207